Setup as router

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

How to setup openwrt as router the simplest way

Hi, I’m new to the forum and I’m trying to configure Openwrt on my Linksys Wrt1900ac and have install Openwrt with latest stable version, cannot seem to find anywhere on how to configure it as router, this is my setup,

Router: Linksys WRT1900ac ver1
Openwrt version install : 23.05
Using a modem/router in bridge mode (Arris TG2482a)
But not able to get to work, need help.

Thanks in advance.

2

The default state for almost all devices that have more than one ethernet port will be in a router mode.

What device are you using? Have you already installed OpenWrt? Are you having problems?

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I see you edited your original post with much more information. Thank you.

The problem is very likely your cable modem. Specifically, it has 'learned' the MAC address of your previous router/firmware. That may be different now. The solution is simple:

  1. Unplug power from both the cable modem and the router.
  2. unplug the ethernet cable between the two devices.
  3. plug in the power to the cable modem.
  4. let it fully boot up and lock onto the cable signal (all the usual LEDs should be on except for the ethernet LED).
  5. unplug the cable modem for 10-30 seconds and repeat from step 3 until you have power-cycled the modem 3 times.
  6. plug in the power to the router and wait for it to complete the boot process.
  7. plug in the ethernet cable between the cable modem and the router's wan port.

If that doesn't work, login to your router and check the upstream IPv4 address. report the first two octets (in bold: aaa.bbb*.ccc.ddd) here.

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4

In general the default settings cover this use case and you should be able to just plug the WAN port to a cable modem and have routing to the Internet.

The first thing to check is if the wan has an IP address from the cable company. This is shown on the "Upstream" section of the main status page. As @psherman said, if you don't get an IP it is usually because the service has "locked" to the MAC address of the old router and refuses to serve the new one. Methods for releasing this lock vary. In most cases powering off the cable modem for 30 minutes will cause the system to forget the old MAC and lock to the new one when you start everything up again. A very few cable companies may require you to call them and register the MAC of your new router to your account.

You can also use the MAC Address box on the Advanced tab of the WAN network settings to duplicate the MAC of the old router. There is no problem with this but in the long run it is better to get the factory MAC of the new router into the system as one less setting to maintain.